Transmission Timing Information Sending Method, Transmission Timing Information Receiving Method, and Apparatus

ABSTRACT

A transmission timing information sending method, a transmission timing information receiving method, and an apparatus are provided. The method includes: configuring, by a base station, higher layer signaling, where the higher layer signaling includes at least one transmission timing set used to indicate a transmission timing value, and each of the at least one transmission timing set includes at least one transmission timing value; sending, by the base station, the higher layer signaling to a terminal; determining, by the base station, downlink control information (DCI), where the DCI is used to instruct the terminal to determine a transmission timing value in the at least one transmission timing set, and the determined transmission timing value is a slot that the terminal is instructed to use when sending feedback information; and sending, by the base station, the DCI to the terminal.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/399,632, filed on Apr. 30, 2019, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,966,281, whichis a continuation of International Application No. PCT/CN2017/108473,filed on Oct. 31, 2017, which claims priority to Chinese PatentApplication No. 201610956629.2, filed on Nov. 3, 2016 and Chinese PatentApplication No. 201710074473.X, filed on Feb. 10, 2017. All of theaforementioned patent applications are hereby incorporated by referencein their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the field of communicationstechnologies, and in particular, to a transmission timing informationsending method, a transmission timing information receiving method, andan apparatus.

BACKGROUND

In an existing system (for example, an LTE system), a base station anduser equipment exchange data and information with each other throughfrequency division duplex (FDD) or time division duplex (TDD). Atransmission timing relationship used during communication between abase station and a terminal is predefined and obtained by the basestation and the terminal. Transmission timing may be an interval betweensending downlink data by the base station and sending uplinkacknowledgement feedback information by the terminal, and is, forexample, hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) timing, or may be aninterval between sending uplink scheduling indication information by thebase station and sending uplink data by the terminal. For example,during FDD-based transmission, the base station sends downlink data in asubframe n, and the terminal feeds back acknowledgement/negativeacknowledgement (ACK/NACK) information of a data packet in a subframen+4, and therefore transmission timing information or HARQ timinginformation is four subframes.

Similarly, during TDD-based transmission, when an initial subframe of adata packet sent by the base station is n, it is usually specified thatthe terminal feeds back ACK/NACK information in a subframe n+4. Becauseuplink subframe and downlink subframe configurations (simply referred toas uplink downlink subframe configurations) in a radio frame aredifferent, it is difficult to feed back information in the subframe n+4at any time. Therefore, the standard predefines HARQ timing informationfor a specified uplink downlink subframe configuration.

In a next generation wireless communications system, types of servicessupported and application scenarios are diversified. In addition, typesof uplink and downlink subframes in a radio frame dynamically change ina case of dynamic TDD. This causes an increase in a quantity oftransmission timing relationships. Using the predefined manner willcause a decrease in system flexibility, and in this case, a designrequirement of a next generation system cannot be satisfied. If downlinkcontrol information (DCI) is used to indicate transmission timing,relatively long information bits need to be predefined in the DCI, toinclude all possible timing relationships. This results in an increasein control signaling overheads.

SUMMARY

Embodiments provide transmission timing information sending method,transmission timing information receiving method, and an apparatus thatis configured to improve flexibility of a transmission timing resourceconfiguration and to reduce overheads of downlink control information.

According to a first aspect, a transmission timing information sendingmethod is provided, including: configuring, by a base station, higherlayer signaling, where the higher layer signaling includes at least onetransmission timing set used to indicate a transmission timing value,each of the at least one transmission timing set includes at least onetransmission timing value, and the at least one transmission timing setis related to at least one of the following factors: a subcarrier width,a TDD manner, and a terminal capability; sending, by the base station,the higher layer signaling to a terminal; determining, by the basestation, downlink control information (DCI), where the DCI is used toinstruct the terminal to determine a transmission timing value in the atleast one transmission timing set, and the determined transmissiontiming value is a slot that the terminal is instructed to use whensending feedback information; and sending, by the base station, the DCIto the terminal.

According to the method for indicating transmission timing by jointlyusing the higher layer signaling and the downlink control information(DCI) in this aspect, the at least one transmission timing value set isconfigured in the higher layer signaling in advance, and the DCI is usedto instruct to select the specific transmission timing value in the set.Value elements in each transmission timing set are determined based onfactors such as a current service status of a system and a subframeconfiguration; therefore, when the terminal receives the higher layersignaling including the at least one transmission timing set, the basestation only needs to use the DCI to carry an indication of thetransmission timing value of the terminal. This avoids carryingrelatively long information bits, and reduces control informationoverheads.

In addition, at least one transmission timing values are configured ineach transmission timing set. This further increases diversity oftransmission timing value selection for the base station and improvesflexibility of a transmission timing configuration.

With reference to the first aspect, in a first implementation of thefirst aspect, that the DCI is used to instruct the terminal to determinea transmission timing value in the at least one transmission timing setincludes: a DCI format of the DCI includes a first information field,and a transmission timing value in a transmission timing set isindicated based on the first information field. When the at least onetransmission timing set is at least two transmission timing sets, thatthe DCI is used to instruct the terminal to determine a transmissiontiming value in the at least one transmission timing set furtherincludes one of the at least one transmission timing set is determinedbased on the DCI format of the DCI, the DCI format includes a firstinformation field, and the first information field is used to indicate atransmission timing value in the set with a binding relationship; orsending is performed on a control channel time-frequency resourceoccupied by the DCI, and at least one of the at least two transmissiontiming set is determined based on the control channel time-frequencyresource.

With reference to the first aspect, in a second implementation of thefirst aspect, that the DCI is used to instruct the terminal to determinea transmission timing value in the at least one transmission timing setincludes: a DCI format of the DCI includes a first information field,and a transmission timing value in a transmission timing set isindicated based on the first information field. When the at least onetransmission timing set is at least two transmission timing sets, thatthe DCI is used to instruct the terminal to determine a transmissiontiming value in the at least one transmission timing set furtherincludes: the DCI format of the DCI further includes a secondinformation field, and one of the at least one transmission timing setis determined based on the second information field.

With reference to the first aspect, in a third implementation of thefirst aspect, the at least one transmission timing set includes a firstsubcarrier set, and a transmission timing value in the first subcarrierset depends on a subcarrier width. When the subcarrier width changes,the corresponding transmission timing value in the first subcarrier setchanges accordingly.

With reference to the first aspect, in a fourth implementation of thefirst aspect, the at least one transmission timing set includes a firstsubcarrier set and a second subcarrier set, a transmission timing valuein the first subcarrier set is determined based on a first subcarrierwidth, a transmission timing value in the second subcarrier set isdetermined based on a second subcarrier width, and at least one of thetransmission timing value in the first subcarrier set is different fromthe transmission timing value in the second subcarrier set.

With reference to any one of the first aspect or the first to the thirdimplementations of the first aspect, in a fourth implementation of thefirst aspect, the sending the DCI to the terminal includes: sending, bythe base station, the DCI to the terminal over a primary controlchannel; or sending, by the base station, the DCI to the terminal over aprimary control channel and a secondary control channel, where the DCIis located on the secondary control channel.

With reference to any one of the first aspect or the first to the thirdimplementations of the first aspect, in a fifth implementation of thefirst aspect, the transmission timing value is one or more of thefollowing: information about an interval between sending downlink datato the terminal by the base station and receiving, by the base station,uplink acknowledgement information sent by the terminal; or informationabout an interval between sending uplink scheduling information to theterminal by the base station and sending uplink data by the terminal,where the information about the interval includes a quantity of slots.

According to a second aspect, a transmission timing informationreceiving method is provided. The method includes: receiving, by aterminal, higher layer signaling and downlink control information (DCI)from a base station, where the higher layer signaling includes at leastone transmission timing set used to indicate a transmission timingvalue, each of the at least one transmission timing set includes atleast one transmission timing value, the DCI is used to instruct theterminal to determine a transmission timing value in the at least onetransmission timing set, and the at least one transmission timing set isrelated to at least one of the following factors: a subcarrier width, aTDD manner, and a terminal capability; and determining the transmissiontiming value in the at least one transmission timing set based on theDCI, and sending feedback information in a slot corresponding to thedetermined transmission timing value.

With reference to the second aspect, in a first implementation of thesecond aspect, the determining the transmission timing value in the atleast one transmission timing set based on the DCI includes:determining, by the terminal, one of the at least one transmissiontiming set based on a format of the DCI; and determining thetransmission timing value in the determined transmission timing setbased on indication information carried in an information field includedin the DCI.

With reference to the second aspect, in a second implementation of thesecond aspect, if the terminal obtains the DCI over a primary controlchannel and a secondary control channel, the determining thetransmission timing value in the at least one transmission timing setbased on the DCI includes: obtaining, by the terminal, resourcescheduling indication information from the primary control channel;determining a time-frequency resource location of the secondary controlchannel based on the resource scheduling indication information; anddetermining the transmission timing value in the at least onetransmission timing set based on the DCI carried in the time-frequencyresource location of the secondary control channel.

According to a third aspect, a base station is further provided. Thebase station includes: a processing unit, configured to configure higherlayer signaling, where the higher layer signaling includes at least onetransmission timing set used to indicate a transmission timing value,each of the at least one transmission timing set includes at least onetransmission timing value, and the at least one transmission timing setis related to at least one of the following factors: a subcarrier width,a TDD manner, and a terminal capability; and a transceiver unit,configured to send the higher layer signaling to a terminal. Theprocessing unit is further configured to determine downlink controlinformation (DCI), where the DCI is used to instruct the terminal todetermine a transmission timing value in the at least one transmissiontiming set, and the determined transmission timing value is a slot thatthe terminal is instructed to use when sending feedback information; andthe transceiver unit is further configured to send the DCI to theterminal. In addition, the base station is further configured toimplement all or some of the method steps in any one of the first to thefifth implementations of the first aspect.

According to a fourth aspect, a terminal is further provided. Theterminal includes: a transceiver unit, configured to receive higherlayer signaling and downlink control information (DCI), where the higherlayer signaling includes at least one transmission timing set used toindicate a transmission timing value, each of the at least onetransmission timing set includes at least one transmission timing value,the DCI is used to instruct the terminal to determine a transmissiontiming value in the at least one transmission timing set, and the atleast one transmission timing set is related to at least one of thefollowing factors: a subcarrier width, a TDD manner, and a terminalcapability; and a processing unit, configured to determine thetransmission timing value in the at least one transmission timing setbased on the DCI. The transceiver unit is further configured to sendfeedback information in a slot corresponding to the determinedtransmission timing value. In addition, the terminal is furtherconfigured to implement all or some of the method steps in the first orthe second implementation of the second aspect.

According to a fifth aspect, a transmission timing information sendingsystem is further provided. The system includes a base station and atleast one terminal, wherein the base station is configured to configurehigher layer signaling, where the higher layer signaling includes atleast one transmission timing set used to indicate a transmission timingvalue, each of the at least one transmission timing set includes atleast one transmission timing value, and the at least one transmissiontiming set is related to at least one of the following factors: asubcarrier width, a TDD manner, and a terminal capability; and send thehigher layer signaling to the terminal, and to determine downlinkcontrol information (DCI), where the DCI is used to instruct theterminal to determine a transmission timing value in the at least onetransmission timing set, and the determined transmission timing value isa slot that the terminal is instructed to use when sending feedbackinformation; and send the DCI to the terminal, and wherein the terminalis configured to: receive the higher layer signaling and the downlinkcontrol information (DCI) from the base station, determine thetransmission timing value in the at least one transmission timing setbased on the DCI, and send the feedback information in the slotcorresponding to the determined transmission timing value.

According to a sixth aspect, a computer storage medium is furtherprovided. The computer storage medium can store a program, and theprogram may perform some and all of the steps in the implementations ofthe transmission timing information sending method and the transmissiontiming information receiving method.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of thisapplication more clearly, the following briefly describes theaccompanying drawings required for describing the embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a schematic flowchart of a transmission timing informationsending method according to an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of time-frequency resourcelocations of a primary control channel and a secondary control channelaccording to an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart of a transmission timing informationreceiving method according to an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of indicating different transmissiontiming based on different service types according to an embodiment ofthis application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a base station according toan embodiment of this application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal according to anembodiment of this application;

FIG. 7 is another schematic diagram of a hardware structure of a basestation according to an embodiment of this application; and

FIG. 8 is another schematic diagram of a hardware structure of aterminal according to an embodiment of this application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

To facilitate subsequent description and describe this applicationclearly, the following first briefly describes concepts possibly to beused in this application.

A communications system in the embodiments of this application may be anLTE system or a 5G system. The communications system includes at leastone terminal and at least one network device.

The terminal may be a device providing information and/or dataconnectivity to a user, a handheld device having a wireless connectionfunction, or another processing device connected to a wireless modem.The terminal may communicate with one or more core networks by using aradio access network (RAN). The terminal may be a mobile terminal suchas a mobile phone (or referred to as a “cellular” phone) or a computerwith a mobile terminal, for example, a portable, pocket-sized, handheld,computer built-in, or in-vehicle mobile apparatus that exchanges voiceand/or data with the radio access network. For example, the terminal maybe a device such as a personal communications service (PCS) phone, acordless telephone set, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, awireless local loop (WLL) station, or a personal digital assistant(PDA). The terminal may also be referred to as a system, a subscriberunit (SU), a subscriber station (SS), a mobile station (MS), a remotestation (RS), an access point (AP), a remote terminal (RT), an accessterminal (AT), a user terminal (UT), a user agent (UA), a user device,or user equipment (UE). The network device may be a base station, anenhanced base station, a relay station with a scheduling function, adevice with a base station function, or the like. The base station maybe an evolved NodeB (eNB) in an LTE system, or may be a base station inanother system. This is not limited in the embodiments of thisapplication. The following is described by using a base station as anexample.

In the embodiments of this application, transmission timing is used toindicate an interval between receiving, by a terminal, downlink datasent by a base station and feeding back uplink acknowledgementinformation to the base station by the terminal, or is used to indicatean interval between sending uplink scheduling information to theterminal by the base station and sending uplink data by the terminal.The transmission timing is, for example, HARQ timing.

In the embodiments of this application, the fed-back uplinkacknowledgement information or feedback information may includeacknowledgement (ACK) information and negative acknowledgement (NACK)information. The base station determines, based on received ACK/NACKinformation, whether to retransmit a data packet. If the base stationreceives ACK information, the base station initiates transmission of anew data packet. If the base station receives NACK information fed backby the terminal, the base station initiates a data packet retransmissionoperation.

An embodiment of this application provides a transmission timinginformation sending method, to improve flexibility of a transmissiontiming configuration and reduce overheads of DCI indication information.As shown in FIG. 1, the method includes the following steps.

Step 101: A base station configures higher layer signaling, where thehigher layer signaling includes at least one transmission timing setused to indicate a transmission timing value, each of the at least onetransmission timing set includes at least one transmission timing value,and the at least one transmission timing set is related to at least oneof the following factors: a subcarrier width, a TDD manner, a terminalcapability, a system uplink downlink configuration, and the like.

The system uplink downlink configuration is a combination relationshipof slot types of slots in a system. For example, every 10 consecutiveslots constitute one group, and each slot in the group is an all-uplinkslot, an all-downlink slot, a primary uplink slot, or a primary downlinkslot.

The TDD manner covers a semi-static TDD system and a dynamic TDD system.In the semi-static TDD system, a slot type of each slot is indicated byusing higher layer signaling or determined in a predefined manner. Inthe dynamic TDD system, a slot type of each slot is notified by usingphysical layer signaling. The slot type includes an all-uplink slot, anall-downlink slot, a primary uplink slot, and a primary downlink slot.

That a base station configures higher layer signaling specificallyincludes: The base station obtains, through division, differenttransmission timing sets based on one or more factors of the terminalcapability, the subcarrier width, the TDD manner, and the system uplinkdownlink configuration. Each transmission timing set includes at leastone transmission timing value. For example, the higher layer signalingincludes a first transmission timing set and/or a second transmissiontiming set, each value in the set is a transmission timing value.

A transmission timing value in the first transmission timing set and atransmission timing value in the second transmission timing set may bedifferent values corresponding to different services, different valuescorresponding to different terminal capabilities, or different valuescorresponding to different TDD manners or different values correspondingto different uplink downlink subframe configurations. For example, thefirst transmission timing set is configured for a terminal with a strongdata processing capability, and the second transmission timing set isconfigured for a terminal with a weak data processing capability; or thefirst transmission timing set is configured for a system of a firstconfiguration based on an uplink downlink configuration, and the secondtransmission timing set is configured for a system of a secondconfiguration based on an uplink downlink configuration, where the firstconfiguration is different from the second configuration; or the systemconfigures the first transmission timing set for a semi-static TDDsystem and configures the second transmission timing set for a dynamicTDD system. In addition, different transmission timing sets may bedetermined and configured based on a time-frequency resource in whichto-be-sent DCI is located.

The transmission timing value may be information about an intervalbetween sending downlink data to a terminal by the base station andreceiving, by the base station, uplink acknowledgement information sentby the terminal, or information about an interval between sending uplinkscheduling information to the terminal by the base station and sendinguplink data by the terminal. The information about the interval includesa quantity of slots. For example, the base station sends downlink datain a subframe or a slot n, and the terminal sends uplink acknowledgementinformation in a subframe or a slot n+k, where a value of k is a valuein the transmission timing value set configured in the higher layersignaling.

Optionally, when the terminal is in a specified case, the at least onetransmission timing set is invalid, and the value in the transmissiontiming set is no longer applicable. The specified case may be, forexample, a cell handover or RRC connection re-setup.

Optionally, a timing value in the transmission timing set furtherincludes at least one default value. When the at least one transmissiontiming set is invalid, the terminal determines a transmission timingvalue based on the default value. For example, the transmission timingvalue is equal to the default value.

Optionally, the default value may be predefined by the system. To bespecific, the default value may be a value that can be learned by thebase station and the terminal in advance, or a value that can beconfigured. For example, the terminal may determine the value based onreceived system information or information related to random access. Theinformation related to random access may be a second message or a fourthmessage sent by the base station when the terminal performs initialaccess.

Setting the default value can resolve the following technical problem:After the at least one timing set used by the terminal becomes invalid,data may not be effectively transmitted if the base station uses a newtiming value and the terminal still uses an invalid timing value.

Step 102: The base station sends the higher layer signaling to aterminal.

Step 103: The base station determines downlink control information(DCI), where the DCI is used to instruct the terminal to determine atransmission timing value in the at least one transmission timing set,and the determined transmission timing value is a slot that the terminalis instructed to use when sending feedback information.

Specifically, the DCI includes an information field indicating thetransmission timing value in the first transmission timing set and thetransmission timing value in the second transmission timing set. Forexample, the DCI includes an information field indicating a transmissiontiming value, and the information field is used to indicate a specifictransmission timing value in a transmission timing set. In this case,the DCI includes a two-bit indication field used to indicate, to theterminal, an interval for feeding back acknowledgement information ofdownlink data scheduled in a current subframe. If a value of the DCI is“00”, a corresponding transmission timing value in the set is k1. Whenthe terminal receives the DCI, it indicates that the transmission timingvalue is “o00”, and the terminal feeds back acknowledge information suchas an ACK/NACK to the base station in a slot or a subframe n+k1.

A transmission timing information indication manner is jointly using aformat of the DCI and a first information field to indicate thetransmission timing value. A specific indication process includes: TheDCI format of the DCI includes a first information field, and the basestation indicates a transmission timing value in a transmission timingset based on the first information field, where, when there are two ormore transmission timing sets, the DCI is used to instruct the terminalto determine a transmission timing value in these transmission timingsets, and wherein the base station determines one of the at least onetransmission timing set based on the DCI format of the DCI, where theDCI format includes a first information field, and the first informationfield is used to indicate a transmission timing value in the set with abinding relationship; or performs sending on a control channeltime-frequency resource occupied by the DCI, and determines at least onetransmission timing set in the at least one transmission timing setbased on the control channel time-frequency resource.

Another transmission timing information indication manner is jointlyusing a first information field and a second information field toindicate the transmission timing value. Specifically, a format of theDCI may be used, the DCI format of the DCI includes a first informationfield, and a transmission timing value in a transmission timing set isindicated based on the first information field. When two or moretransmission timing sets are included, the DCI is used to instruct theterminal to determine a transmission timing value in these transmissiontiming sets; in addition, the DCI format of the DCI may further includea second information field, where the second information field is usedto determine the transmission timing set in the at least onetransmission timing set.

Optionally, when a timing value in the transmission timing set furtherincludes at least one default value as described in step 101, in step103, optionally, that the base station determines downlink controlinformation (DCI), where the DCI is used to instruct the terminal todetermine a transmission timing value in the at least one transmissiontiming set, includes: An indication field in the DCI instructs theterminal to use the default value. For example, as described in theforegoing example, the DCI includes a two-bit indication field used toindicate, to the terminal, an interval for feeding back transmissionacknowledgement information of downlink data scheduled in a currentsubframe. If a value of the DCI is “00”, a corresponding transmissiontiming value in the set is determined based on the default value. Whenindication information is “01,10,11”, the indication information is usedto instruct the terminal to determine a transmission timing value basedon remaining values in the timing set.

Step 104: The base station sends the DCI to the terminal.

When the base station sends the DCI, a slot indicated by indicationinformation in the DCI needs to include an uplink transmission resourcethat can be used to transmit an uplink ACK/NACK, and a specifictime-frequency resource location for transmitting the uplink ACK/NACKmay have a binding relationship with scheduled downlink transmissiondata. For example, frequency domain resource information of the uplinkACK/NACK has a binding relationship with a frequency domain location ofa first physical resource block (PRB) of a scheduled downlinktransmission resource.

The base station may send the DCI to the terminal over a primary controlchannel, or send the DCI to the terminal over both a primary controlchannel and a secondary control channel. The DCI is located on thesecondary control channel.

As shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of the twolevels of control channels. The primary control channel is located in acontrol area of an entire slot or subframe, and the secondary controlchannel is located in a data area of the subframe. If the DCI is sentjointly over the primary control channel and the secondary controlchannel, the primary control channel includes resource schedulingindication information, and the resource scheduling indicationinformation is used to indicate a time-frequency resource location ofthe DCI on the secondary control channel. The secondary control channelis used to carry information indicating a transmission timing value.

According to the method for indicating transmission timing by jointlyusing higher layer signaling and downlink control information (DCI), theat least one transmission timing value set is configured in the higherlayer signaling in advance, and the DCI is used to instruct to selectthe specific transmission timing value in the set. Value elements ineach transmission timing set are determined based on factors such as acurrent service status of a system and a subframe configuration;therefore, when the terminal receives the higher layer signalingincluding the at least one transmission timing set, the base stationonly needs to use the DCI to carry an indication of the transmissiontiming value of the terminal. This avoids carrying relatively longinformation bits, and reduces control information overheads.

Further, the process of configuring a correspondence between the DCI andthe transmission timing set by the base station includes the followingcases:

In a case, the base station establishes a binding relationship with theat least one transmission timing set based on the DCI format, so thatthe terminal can determine a transmission timing set based on the DCIformat. The DCI format includes a first information field. The firstinformation field is used to indicate a transmission timing value in theset with the binding relationship. For example, the first informationfield includes a specific value in a first set.

In another case, a binding relationship is established between the DCIformat and two or more transmission timing sets. To be specific, the DCIformat includes a first information field and a second informationfield. The first information field has a binding relationship with atransmission timing set, and the first information field is used toindicate the transmission timing set with the binding relationship in aplurality of sets. The second information field is used to indicate atransmission timing value in the set with the binding relationship.

In still another case, the base station may alternatively establish abinding relationship with the at least one transmission timing set basedon a control channel time-frequency resource. Specifically, the controlchannel time-frequency resource includes a plurality of areas, each areais used to transmit the DCI, and each area is corresponding to atransmission timing set. After receiving the DCI, the terminaldetermines, based on information about a control channel time-frequencyresource area in which the DCI is located, a transmission timing setcorresponding to the DCI.

In still another case, the base station establishes a bindingrelationship with different transmission timing sets based on a lengthof information bits included in the DCI format of the DCI. For example,a binding relationship is established between the first transmissiontiming set and DCI whose information bit length is less than athreshold, and a binding relationship is established between the secondtransmission timing set and DCI whose bit length is greater than orequal to the threshold.

It should be noted that the foregoing only lists several bindingrelationship establishment cases, and the foregoing cases are notlimitative. The base station may alternatively establish a bindingrelationship between the transmission timing set and the DCI based onfactors such as a subcarrier width and an uplink downlink subframeconfiguration. For example, the base station determines the DCI based ona subcarrier width, the DCI is used to indicate a transmission timingvalue corresponding to the subcarrier width, and the DCI has a bindingrelationship with a transmission timing set corresponding to thesubcarrier width.

To improve flexibility of transmission timing value indication, atransmission timing value in the transmission timing set varies with theDCI.

Further, the at least one transmission timing set in the higher layersignaling includes a first subcarrier set, and a transmission timingvalue in the first subcarrier set depends on a subcarrier width. Whenthe subcarrier width changes, the corresponding transmission timingvalue in the first subcarrier set also changes.

For example, at a first moment, the base station determines first DCIbased on a current subcarrier width, and the first DCI is used toindicate a transmission timing value in the first subcarrier set; at amoment following the first moment, for example, a second moment, thebase station generates second DCI based on a subcarrier width of thesecond moment. The base station flexibly indicates transmission timingby configuring the higher layer signaling to adjust the transmissiontiming set and by using the indication of the DCI.

Alternatively, if two or more transmission timing sets are related tothe subcarrier width, a manner of configuring and establishing a bindingrelationship may be configuring different transmission timing sets basedon different subcarrier widths at different moments. Two transmissiontiming sets: a first subcarrier set and a second subcarrier set, areused as an example. A transmission timing value in the first subcarrierset is determined based on a first subcarrier width, and a transmissiontiming value in the second subcarrier set is determined based on asecond subcarrier width. When a system configuration is the firstsubcarrier width, the base station determines DCI, and the DCI iscorresponding to the first subcarrier set. When a system configurationis the second subcarrier width, the base station determines DCI, and theDCI is corresponding to the second subcarrier set. The first subcarrierwidth and the second subcarrier width may be configured in a same systemin a frequency division multiplex manner or a time division multiplexmanner. In this embodiment, the example in which the base stationdetermines, based on a subcarrier width, a transmission timing valueindicated in the DCI further improves flexibility of informationindication.

In another embodiment of this application, a transmission timinginformation receiving method is further provided on a receive side. Asshown in FIG. 3, the method includes the following steps.

Step 301: A terminal receives higher layer signaling and downlinkcontrol information (DCI) from a base station.

The higher layer signaling includes at least one transmission timing setused to indicate a transmission timing value. Each of the at least onetransmission timing set includes at least one transmission timing value.The DCI is used to instruct the terminal to determine a transmissiontiming value in the at least one transmission timing set. The at leastone transmission timing set is related to at least one of the followingfactors: a subcarrier width, a TDD manner, a terminal capability, andthe like.

Further, the terminal may first receive the higher layer signaling sentby the base station and then receive the DCI. Alternatively, theterminal simultaneously receives the higher layer signaling and the DCIthat are sent by the base station. Alternatively, if the higher layersignaling has been pre-configured in the terminal or obtained by theterminal, the DCI sent by the base station may be directly received,with no need to obtain the higher layer signaling before receiving theDCI.

A process in which the base station divides the higher layer signalingand configures the DCI is the same as the method described in theforegoing embodiment. Details are not repeated herein.

Step 302: The terminal determines a transmission timing value in atleast one transmission timing set based on the DCI, and sends, to thebase station, data information and/or feedback information in a slotcorresponding to the determined transmission timing value.

A possible implementation is: After obtaining the higher layer signalingand the DCI, the terminal first determines a transmission timing set inthe at least one transmission timing set based on a format of the DCI,and then determines the transmission timing value in the determinedtransmission timing set based on indication information carried in aninformation field included in the DCI. The information field includesindication information such as a bit value, resource allocation, and amodulating method.

If the terminal obtains two or more pieces of DCI, the terminal maydetermine, based on a binding relationship between each DCI andtransmission timing set, a transmission timing set corresponding to eachDCI, and then determine a transmission timing value in the set based onan information field in the DCI. For example, the terminal receives twopieces of DCI in one slot, denoted first DCI and second DCI, formats ofthe two pieces of DCI are different, and an information field includedin the first DCI is different from an information field included in thesecond DCI. The information field in the first DCI includes informationsuch as resource allocation, a modulation method, and transmissiontiming information. The information field in the second DCI includes amodulation method, transmission timing information, and the like.

During determining of a correspondence between the DCI and thetransmission timing set, a possible case is that a length of informationbits included in the first DCI is different from a length of informationbits included in the second DCI. When configuring the transmissiontiming set, the base station may establish a binding relationshipbetween the transmission timing set and the DCI based on an informationbit length. For example, a binding relationship is established between afirst set and DCI whose information bit length is less than a specifiedthreshold, and DCI whose information bit length is greater than thethreshold is bound to a second set. Then, a transmission timing value inthe first set and a transmission timing value in the second set aredetermined based on information carried in the first DCI and informationcarried in the second DCI.

In another possible case, the first DCI or the second DCI includes aninformation field used to indicate a first transmission timing set or asecond transmission timing set corresponding to DCI in which theinformation field is located. Specifically, the information fieldincludes one-bit indication information; when a bit value is “0”, theterminal determines the first transmission timing set; and when a bitvalue is “1”, the terminal determines the second transmission timingset.

Alternatively, if the terminal obtains the DCI over a primary controlchannel and a secondary control channel, the determining a transmissiontiming value in at least one transmission timing set based on the DCIincludes obtaining, by the terminal, resource scheduling indicationinformation from the primary control channel, determining atime-frequency resource location of the secondary control channel basedon the resource scheduling indication information and determining thetransmission timing value in the at least one transmission timing setbased on the DCI carried in the time-frequency resource location of thesecondary control channel.

According to the method provided in this embodiment, of the at least onetiming value set is first configured by using the higher layersignaling, and then the specific timing value is indicated by using thephysical layer control indication information DCI. In this way, thetransmission timing value is flexibly configured, and a plurality oftiming relationships can be dynamically indicated together with thephysical layer indication information.

In addition, each DCI is bound to at least one transmission timing set.The binding may be performed based on the DCI format, the DCIinformation bit length, the subcarrier width, and the like, therebyestablishing an implicitly indicated relationship between the DCI andthe transmission timing value set. This reduces DCI signaling overheads.

Referring to FIG. 5, FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of anembodiment of a base station according to this application. The basestation may be configured to perform the transmission timing informationsending method in the embodiment related to FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 5, the base station includes a transceiver unit 501 anda processing unit 502. In addition to the transceiver unit 501 and theprocessing unit 502, the base station may include other units or modulessuch as a storage unit.

In an embodiment, the processing unit 502 is configured to configurehigher layer signaling, where the higher layer signaling includes atleast one transmission timing set used to indicate a transmission timingvalue, each of the at least one transmission timing set includes atleast one transmission timing value, and the at least one transmissiontiming set is related to at least one of the following factors: asubcarrier width, a TDD manner, a terminal capability, and the like.

The transceiver unit 501 is configured to send the higher layersignaling to a terminal.

The processing unit 502 is further configured to determine downlinkcontrol information (DCI), where the DCI is used to instruct theterminal to determine a transmission timing value in the at least onetransmission timing set, and the determined transmission timing value isa slot that the terminal is instructed to use when sending feedbackinformation.

The transceiver unit 501 is further configured to send the DCI to theterminal.

The transmission timing value includes information about an intervalbetween sending downlink data to the terminal by the base station andreceiving, by the base station, uplink acknowledgement information sentby the terminal, or information about an interval between sending uplinkscheduling information to the terminal by the base station and sendinguplink data by the terminal. The information about the interval includesa quantity of slots.

Optionally, that the DCI is used to instruct the terminal to determine atransmission timing value in the at least one transmission timing setincludes: a DCI format of the DCI includes a first information field,and a transmission timing value in a transmission timing set isindicated based on the first information field. When the at least onetransmission timing set is at least two transmission timing sets, thatthe DCI is used to instruct the terminal to determine a transmissiontiming value in the at least one transmission timing set furtherincludes one of the at least one transmission timing set is determinedbased on the DCI format of the DCI, the DCI format includes a firstinformation field, and the first information field is used to indicate atransmission timing value in the set with a binding relationship; orsending is performed on a control channel time-frequency resourceoccupied by the DCI, and at least one of the at least two transmissiontiming set is determined based on the control channel time-frequencyresource.

Optionally, that the DCI is used to instruct the terminal to determine atransmission timing value in the at least one transmission timing setincludes: a DCI format of the DCI includes a first information field,and a transmission timing value in a transmission timing set isindicated based on the first information field. When the at least onetransmission timing set is at least two transmission timing sets, thatthe DCI is used to instruct the terminal to determine a transmissiontiming value in the at least one transmission timing set furtherincludes: the DCI format of the DCI further includes a secondinformation field, and one of the at least one transmission timing setis determined based on the second information field.

Optionally, the processing unit 502 is further configured to establish abinding relationship with the at least one transmission timing set basedon the DCI format. The DCI format includes a first information field,and the first information field is used to indicate a transmissiontiming value in the set with the binding relationship.

Optionally, the processing unit 502 is further configured to establish abinding relationship with at least two transmission timing sets based onthe DCI format. The format of the DCI includes a first information fieldand a second information field, the first information field is used toindicate that there is a binding relationship between the DCI and one ofthe at least two transmission timing sets, and the second informationfield is used to indicate a transmission timing value in the set withthe binding relationship.

Optionally, the at least one transmission timing set includes a firstsubcarrier set, and a transmission timing value in the first subcarrierset depends on a subcarrier width.

Optionally, the at least one transmission timing set includes a firstsubcarrier set and a second subcarrier set, a transmission timing valuein the first subcarrier set is determined based on a first subcarrierwidth, a transmission timing value in the second subcarrier set isdetermined based on a second subcarrier width, and at least one of thetransmission timing value in the first subcarrier set is different fromthe transmission timing value in the second subcarrier set.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 501 is specifically configured to: sendthe DCI to the terminal over a primary control channel, or send the DCIto the terminal over a primary control channel and a secondary controlchannel. The DCI is located on the secondary control channel.

Optionally, the storage unit is configured to: store the higher layersignaling and the generated DCI information, and store data orinformation from the terminal, for example, ACK/NACK information.

According to the base station and the terminal provided in thisembodiment, the higher layer signaling that is configured on a basestation side includes the at least one transmission timing value set,and elements in the transmission timing value set are flexiblyconfigured based on a current service of a system and a subframeconfiguration. The terminal determines a transmission timing valueduring current transmission, for example, a HARQ timing value, byreceiving the downlink control information (DCI). In addition to thetransmission timing value, the DCI further includes downlink or uplinkdata scheduling indication information. Transmission timing is sent withscheduling information. User equipment may determine information aboutan interval between receiving downlink data and feeding back anACK/NACK, or user equipment may determine information about an intervalbetween receiving uplink scheduling information and sending uplink data.

Referring to FIG. 6, FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of anembodiment of a terminal according to this application. The terminal maybe configured to perform the transmission timing information receivingmethod in the embodiment related to FIG. 3.

As shown in FIG. 6, the terminal may include a transceiver unit 601 anda processing unit 602. In addition to the transceiver unit 601 and theprocessing unit 602, the terminal may include other units or modulessuch as a storage unit.

In an embodiment, the transceiver unit 601 is configured to receivehigher layer signaling and downlink control information (DCI). Thehigher layer signaling includes at least one transmission timing setused to indicate a transmission timing value. Each of the at least onetransmission timing set includes at least one transmission timing value.The DCI is used to instruct the terminal to determine a transmissiontiming value in the at least one transmission timing set. The at leastone transmission timing set is related to at least one of the followingfactors: a subcarrier width, a TDD manner, a terminal capability, andthe like.

The processing unit 602 is configured to determine the transmissiontiming value in the at least one transmission timing set based on theDCI.

The transceiver unit 601 is further configured to send feedbackinformation in a slot corresponding to the determined transmissiontiming value.

Optionally, the processing unit 602 is specifically configured to:determine one of the at least one transmission timing set based on aformat of the DCI, and determine the transmission timing value in thedetermined transmission timing set based on indication informationcarried in an information field included in the DCI.

Optionally, if the terminal obtains the DCI over a primary controlchannel and a secondary control channel, the processing unit 602 isspecifically configured to: obtain resource scheduling indicationinformation from the primary control channel; determine a time-frequencyresource location of the secondary control channel based on the resourcescheduling indication information; and determine the transmission timingvalue in the at least one transmission timing set based on the DCIcarried in the time-frequency resource location of the secondary controlchannel.

Referring to FIG. 7, FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of anembodiment of a base station according to this application. The terminalmay be the base station in any of the foregoing embodiments and isconfigured to perform steps in the transmission timing informationsending method in the foregoing embodiments.

As shown in FIG. 7, the base station may include a transceiver 701, aprocessor 702, a communications bus 703, and a memory 704. Thetransceiver 701 includes at least one communications interface and/orI/O interface.

The processor 702 is a control center of the base station, and isconnected to various parts of the entire terminal by using variousinterfaces and lines; and runs or executes a software program and/ormodule stored in the memory 704 and invokes data stored in the memory,to perform various functions of the base station and/or process data.The processor 702 may include an integrated circuit (IC), for example, asingle packaged IC, or may be formed by connecting a plurality ofpackaged ICs having a same function or different functions. For example,the processor may include only a central processing unit (CPU), or maybe a combination of a GPU, a digital signal processor (DSP), and acontrol chip (such as a baseband chip) in a transceiver module. In thisimplementation of this application, the CPU may be a single operationcore or a multi-operation core.

The transceiver 701 is configured to establish a communication channel,so that the terminal base station is connected to a receiving terminalby using the communication channel, to implement data transmissionbetween the base station and the terminal. The transceiver may include acommunications module such as a wireless local area network (WLAN)module, a Bluetooth module, or a baseband module, and a radio frequency(RF) circuit corresponding to the communications module, and isconfigured to perform wireless local area network communication,Bluetooth communication, infrared communication, and/or cellularcommunications system communication, for example, Wideband Code DivisionMultiple Access (WCDMA) and/or high speed downlink packet access(HSDPA). The transceiver is configured to control communication ofcomponents in the terminal, and can support direct memory access.

In this embodiment of this application, functions to be implemented bythe transceiver 701 may be implemented by the transceiver unit of thebase station or may be implemented by controlling a transceiver unit bythe processor 702. Functions to be implemented by the processor 702 maybe implemented by the processing unit 502.

Referring to FIG. 8, FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of anembodiment of a network-side terminal according to this application. Theterminal may be the network-side device in any of the foregoingembodiments and is configured to perform steps in the method in theforegoing embodiments.

The terminal may include a transceiver 801, a processor 802, acommunications bus 803, and a memory 804. The transceiver 801 includesat least one communications interface and/or I/O interface.

The transceiver 801 may be configured to: receive higher layer signalingand DCI that are sent by a base station, and send feedback information,for example, an ACK/NACK message, to the base station. The transceivermay be controlled by the processor to send data to the base station oranother network-side device.

The processor 802 is a control center of the terminal, and is connectedto various parts of the entire network-side device by using variousinterfaces and lines; and runs or executes a software program and/ormodule stored in the memory and invokes data stored in the memory, toperform various functions of the terminal and/or process data. Theprocessor may be a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor(NP), or a combination of a CPU and an NP. The processor may furtherinclude a hardware chip. The hardware chip may be anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logicdevice (PLD), or a combination thereof. The PLD may be a complexprogrammable logic device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array(FPGA), a generic array logic (GAL), or any combination thereof.

The memory 804 is configured to store the obtained higher layersignaling and DCI information. The memory may include a volatile memory,for example, a random access memory (RAM), or may include a non-volatilememory, for example, a flash memory, a hard disk drive (HDD), or asolid-state drive (SSD). The memory may further include a combination ofthe foregoing types of memories. The memory may store a program or code.The processor in the network element may implement functions of thenetwork element by executing the program or code.

An embodiment of this application provides a computer storage medium,configured to store a computer software instruction for use by thetransmission timing information sending method and the transmissiontiming information receiving method provided in the foregoingembodiments. The computer software instruction includes a programdesigned to execute the foregoing method embodiments. The stored programis executed to send and receive transmission timing information.

A person skilled in the art should understand that the embodiments ofthe present invention may be provided as a method, an apparatus (adevice), or a computer program product. Therefore, the present inventionmay use a form of hardware only embodiments, software only embodiments,or embodiments with a combination of software and hardware. Moreover,the present invention may use a form of a computer program product thatis implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (includingbut not limited to a magnetic disk memory, a CD-ROM, an optical memory,and the like) that include computer-usable program code. The computerprogram is stored/distributed in a proper medium and is provided withother hardware or used as a part of hardware, or may be distributed inanother form, such as by using the Internet or another wired or wirelesstelecommunications system.

For same or similar parts between the embodiments in this specification,mutual citation is performed. Especially, the device embodiments areessentially similar to the method embodiments, and therefore aredescribed briefly; for related pails, refer to descriptions in themethod embodiments.

The foregoing descriptions are implementations of this application, butare not intended to limit the protection scope of this application.

1. A method comprising: sending, by a base station, higher layersignaling to a terminal, wherein the higher layer signaling comprises atleast one transmission timing set, wherein each of the at least onetransmission timing set indicates at least one transmission timingvalue, and wherein each of the at least one transmission timing set isrelated to at least one of the following factors: a subcarrier width ora data processing capability of the terminal; and sending, by the basestation, downlink control information (DCI) to the terminal forinstructing the terminal to determine the transmission timing value inthe at least one transmission timing set.
 2. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the at least one transmission timing set comprises afirst subcarrier set, and wherein the transmission timing value in thefirst subcarrier set is related to a first data processing capability ofthe terminal.
 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the at leastone transmission timing set further comprises a second subcarrier set,wherein a transmission timing value in the second subcarrier set isrelated to a second data processing capability of the terminal, andwherein the transmission timing value in the first subcarrier set isdifferent from the transmission timing value in the second subcarrierset.
 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least onetransmission timing set comprises a first subcarrier set, and whereinthe transmission timing value in the first subcarrier set is related toa first subcarrier width.
 5. The method according to claim 4, whereinthe at least one transmission timing set further comprises a secondsubcarrier set, wherein a transmission timing value in the secondsubcarrier set is related to a second subcarrier width, and wherein thetransmission timing value in the first subcarrier set is different fromthe transmission timing value in the second subcarrier set.
 6. A methodcomprising: receiving, by a terminal, higher layer signaling from a basestation, wherein the higher layer signaling comprises at least onetransmission timing set, wherein each of the at least one transmissiontiming set indicates at least one transmission timing value, and whereineach of the at least one transmission timing set is related to at leastone of the following factors: a subcarrier width or a data processingcapability of the terminal; and receiving, by the terminal, downlinkcontrol information (DCI) from the base station for instructing theterminal to determine the transmission timing value in the at least onetransmission timing set.
 7. The method according to claim 6, wherein theat least one transmission timing set comprises a first subcarrier set,and wherein the transmission timing value in the first subcarrier set isrelated to a first data processing capability of the terminal.
 8. Themethod according to claim 7, wherein the at least one transmissiontiming set further comprises a second subcarrier set, wherein atransmission timing value in the second subcarrier set is related to asecond data processing capability of the terminal, and wherein thetransmission timing value in the first subcarrier set is different fromthe transmission timing value in the second subcarrier set.
 9. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the at least one transmissiontiming set comprises a first subcarrier set, and wherein thetransmission timing value in the first subcarrier set is related to afirst subcarrier width.
 10. The method according to claim 9, wherein theat least one transmission timing set further comprises a secondsubcarrier set, wherein a transmission timing value in the secondsubcarrier set is related to a second subcarrier width, and wherein thetransmission timing value in the first subcarrier set is different fromthe transmission timing value in the second subcarrier set.
 11. A basestation comprising: a processor; and a non-transitory memory storingprogramming for execution by the processor, the programming includinginstructions to: send higher layer signaling to a terminal, wherein thehigher layer signaling comprises at least one transmission timing set,wherein each of the at least one transmission timing set indicates atleast one transmission timing value, and wherein each of the at leastone transmission timing set is related to at least one of the followingfactors: a subcarrier width, or a data processing capability of theterminal; and send downlink control information (DCI) to the terminalfor instructing the terminal to determine the transmission timing valuein the at least one transmission timing set.
 12. The base stationaccording to claim ii, wherein the at least one transmission timing setcomprises a first subcarrier set, and wherein the transmission timingvalue in the first subcarrier set is related to a first data processingcapability of the terminal.
 13. The base station according to claim 12,wherein the at least one transmission timing set further comprises asecond subcarrier set, wherein a transmission timing value in the secondsubcarrier set is related to a second data processing capability of theterminal, and wherein the transmission timing value in the firstsubcarrier set is different from the transmission timing value in thesecond subcarrier set.
 14. The base station according to claim 11,wherein the at least one transmission timing set comprises a firstsubcarrier set, and wherein the transmission timing value in the firstsubcarrier set is related to a first subcarrier width.
 15. The basestation according to claim 14, wherein the at least one transmissiontiming set further comprises a second subcarrier set, wherein atransmission timing value in the second subcarrier set is related to asecond subcarrier width, and wherein the transmission timing value inthe first subcarrier set is different from the transmission timing valuein the second subcarrier set.
 16. A terminal comprising: a processor;and a non-transitory memory storing programming for execution by theprocessor, the programming including instructions to: receive higherlayer signaling from a base station, wherein the higher layer signalingcomprises at least one transmission timing set, wherein each of the atleast one transmission timing set indicates at least one transmissiontiming value, and wherein each of the at least one transmission timingset is related to at least one of the following factors: a subcarrierwidth, or a data processing capability of the terminal; and receivedownlink control information (DCI) from the base station for instructingthe terminal to determine the transmission timing value in the at leastone transmission timing set.
 17. The terminal according to claim 16,wherein the at least one transmission timing set comprises a firstsubcarrier set, and wherein the transmission timing value in the firstsubcarrier set is related to a first data processing capability of theterminal.
 18. The terminal according to claim 17, wherein the at leastone transmission timing set further comprises a second subcarrier set,wherein a transmission timing value in the second subcarrier set isrelated to a second data processing capability of the terminal, andwherein the transmission timing value in the first subcarrier set isdifferent from the transmission timing value in the second subcarrierset.
 19. The terminal according to claim 16, wherein the at least onetransmission timing set comprises a first subcarrier set, and whereinthe transmission timing value in the first subcarrier set is related toa first subcarrier width.
 20. The terminal according to claim 19,wherein the at least one transmission timing set further comprises asecond subcarrier set, wherein a transmission timing value in the secondsubcarrier set is related to a second subcarrier width, and wherein thetransmission timing value in the first subcarrier set is different fromthe transmission timing value in the second subcarrier set.